Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey
by chattingchick1
Summary: My sequel to Memoirs of a Geisha book or movie . Nitta Sayuri's next journey in her life after the Chairman's death is tough. When given a chance to go back to Gion, she's also given a chance to face the past she's tried to avoid for 33 years.
1. Prologue: The Painful Past

**_Edited 11/28/07_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Memoirs of a Geisha. Arthur Golden is the author. I came up with the idea to write my own sequel for fun. I don't expect anything in return, so if you're one of those people who don't like how Arthur Golden wrote Memoirs of a Geisha and don't want to read a sequel, turn back now. I wrote this out of my own enjoyment, hoping others will enjoy it as well. I have read the book twice, once for fun, and twice for details, so if you have any questions about where a certain fact came from or how I came to a certain conclusion, ask in a review or PM me, and I'll get back to you with exact page numbers. They correspond with any paperback version of the book if you own it. The same goes with any footnotes used for quotes taken straight from the book.

You also don't have to have read the book, as the Prologue will have all the details that happened in the book, but not in the movie, so, again, if you're one of those people, feel free to ask me questions if something confuses you. I have seen the movie 3 times also, so I know the differences. If you want to know the differences, go my MySpace page on my profile.

Another thing, don't start complaining about Arthur Golden to me. I will ignore your review, and not answer your questions if you have any. This sequel of mine is not the official sequel, if there was even going to be a sequel. I did it because there was so many loose ends at the end of the book. Enough of the serious talk.

Enjoy! _**The actual story begins with Chapter 1!**_

* * *

**"Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey"  
Prologue: "The Painful Past"**

Nitta Sayuri held the hankerchief closer to her as she stared out the window of her New York City apartment. She never had gotten used to the modern day New York City syle automobiles, even though she had been in the United States for 33 years.

Sayuri brought the yellow-brown hankerchief to her fairly smooth nose and took in the faint smell of the Chairman's talc skin. His death was 19 years ago and ever since, she had preserved his memory in the hankerchief he had given to her 58 years ago in April of 1931.

She was a 69 year old woman now, but she kept her skin in the best shape possible. She didn't want her face to look like Granny's did. Sayuri smiled slightly, so slightly that no wrinkles showed, as she remembered the first time she saw the older woman. Mother had commented on the 9-year-old Sakamoto Chiyo as being pretty, but Granny responded with a frown, "There are too many pretty girls in Gion. What we need is a smart girl, not a pretty girl."(1) Unfortunately for Granny, she died two years later, so she never saw how pretty or smart Chiyo would become.

Sayuri glanced at her reflection in the window. Her blue-gray eyes still shone bright through her pale skin. _That's the only thing that hasn't changed._ She though to herself with a small sigh. Since she left for the United States in 1956, Mother and the Chairman had died only months apart. Even harder to think about was her sister, Sakamoto Satsu. She had ran away from Kyoto on the last Tuesday in October 1929, when Chiyo was just 9, and Sayuri has never seen her since. She didn't even know if her sister was still alive. If she was, Satsu would be 75, and probably still with the Sugi boy she ran off with after she stopped through Yoroido that same fall.

Sayuri closed her eyes, fighting back tears, her eyelids like dams in a river. Mameha may not have been her blood sister like Satsu, but she was her sister nonetheless. Mameha became Sayuri's older sister immediately after Chiyo became Sayuri, an apprentice geisha, or maiko, in 1934. Mameha had since visited frequently after Sayuri moved to New York City, but as of the past 20 years, her visits were further between. Her health probably wasn't in the best state, considering she was entering her eighties this year.

Sayuri often wished she could see her old friends again, even her cruel rivals like Hatsumomo. Hatsumomo's younger sister years ago was Pumpkin, another of Sayuri's former friends. When Pumpkin became a maiko, though, their friendship slowly fell apart, like petals on a wilted flower, since Hatsumomo forbid Pumpkin to speak to Sayuri. They occasionally spoke when they saw each other when Hatsumomo wasn't around, but, unfortunately, that wasn't enough to salvage their once shining friendship. Hatsumomo was three years older than Mameha and it was anyone's guess as to how or where she was. The last Sayuri heard of her when she was kicked out of the Nitta okiya after embarrassing herself, and thus, the okiya. The letter Auntie received from her from the Hanami-cho section during World War II was the last anyone had heard from her.

Sayuri was the only one left in the Sakamoto family, except for her sister, Satsu. Their mother had died six weeks after Tanaka Ichiro took them out of Yoroido, their hometown, and into Kyoto, Their father passed a few weeks after that, but no one knew why. Their mother was very sick, but Chiyo or Satsu never knew what she had, and their father, Sakamoto Minoru, never told them. It was their father who sold them after Mr. Tanaka spoke with him on several occassions. Her mother was dying, after all, and they were already poor. Still, somehow, Sayuri couldn't convince herself that her father had been that desperate. She wanted to believe that Mr. Tanaka had said something to him that day Chiyo walked into the last of their conversation to convince him.

"So, Sakamoto, what do you think of my proposal?" Chiyo heard Mr. Tanaka say as he and her father sat at the table.

Her father had replied with a sorrowful expression. "I don't know, sir. I can't picture the girls living anywhere else."

The conversation had ended with Mr. Tanaka leaving. "I understand, but they'd be much better off, and so would you. Just see to it that they come down to the village tomorrow."(2)

From that day on, Chiyo's life had been changed forever, or atleast, from the moment she cut her lip and first met the man called Tanaka Ichiro.

Sayuri walked over to the small bedside table with the glass rectangular frame. With one last intake of the Chairman's talc scent, she gently folded the hankerchief and placed it in the frame.

The Chairman's last words had been, "Sayuri, never forget you past, no matter how painful it is. Everything happens for a reason. And remember, I'll always love you."

Love. Maybe it was Sayuri's still blue-gray eyes, or maybe his affections for the child called Chiyo had grown. Sayuri believed the latter with all her heart. He was the reason she had wanted to become a geisha in the first place, after all. From the moment she met Iwamura Ken on the bridge over Shirakawa Stream, 11-year-old Chiyo knew she wanted to see that man again, and becoming a geisha had seemed like the best way to even have a chance in running into him again. Three years later, she became maiko, and was one step closer. Only a few months later, when she first met Nobu Toshikazu, she also saw the Chairman for the first time since she saw him on the bridge with the geisha, Izuko.

Of course, she didn't expect him to remember the small girl of three years before. She didn't know it at the time, though, but the Chairman knew perfectly well who Sayuri was by her eyes. When Sayuri was 29, he told her the truth. He had offered to pay Mameha's expenses if she was to ever come across a girl with, as he described them, startling gray eyes, in Gion. As fate may have it, she did a few months later. That was when Mameha made a surprise visit to the Nitta okiya. She told Mother that she would become Chiyo's older sister if Mother agreed to a deal. If Chiyo had repaid her debts to the okiya by the time she was twenty, Mother agreed to pay Mameha double her normal wages. If Chiyo couldn't, Mameha would just lose, as she already agreed to only take half her normal wages to train Chiyo as her younger sister. It turned out that Sayuri had repaid her debt to the okiya and more by the age 18. In the beginning, before the Chairman told her about his involvement, Sayuri thought that Mameha wanted to take her in so Hatsumomo couldn't claim her. After all, Hatsumomo and Mameha were rivals, so of course they had a grudge against each other.

The only difference between the two was that Mameha was more popular than Hatsumomo. Hatsumomo may have a successful geisha, but that was it. Sayuri herself became one of the most popular geisha, and the money she earned was record breaking. Her _mizuage_ itself was sold for 11,500 yen to Dr. Crab, the highest ever paid for a mizuage until 1951, when a geisha named Katsumiyo broke that record.

Sayuri may have been popular, but that didn't mean she never did anything to tarnish her reputation. She remembered the day she shamed herself on the island of Amami. She wanted Nobu's interest in her to disappear, as she still hadn't gotten the Chairman's attention yet. She wanted Pumpkin to bring Nobu in to see Sayuri with the Minister, but instead, she brought the Chairman. Sayuri had been horrified. Only a day later when she was to meet Nobu, but the Chairman came instead, was when Sayuri realized if she had never done that, she would have never been with the Chairman. It turns out that he wanted to tell Sayuri that he knew she was that little girl, but he felt Nobu deserved to be happy. After the Chairman saw Sayuri and the Minister, though, he told Nobu, as Pumpkin informed him that Sayuri wanted Nobu to see, and that drove Nobu away. The Chairman then had a chance at Sayuri himself. That meeting was when Sayuri found out the truth and everything became clear.

Sayuri didn't like that memory, but, as the Chairman said many years ago when they talked about it, the past is what makes a person who they are today. Sadly, they never married or had a child together, but that was because if he was to ever marry a geisha, his reputation as Chairman of Iwamura Electric would be ruined. Sayuri was just glad to have the Chairman, if it was only for a few years, because a geisha was never supposed to love.

Mother may have told Sayuri to leave the okiya, but Sayuri could never truly forget being a geisha. Her parents were long gone and the only family she might have had left was Satsu, so being a geisha was going to be her life until the day she died.

A single tear dropped to the beige carpet as Nitta Sayuri closed her eyes and drew the blinds closed, shutting out the light in her lonely apartment.

* * *

1 - quote from page 43  
2 - conversation from page 21


	2. When the Past Meets the Present

**_Edited 6/20/07_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Memoirs of a Geisha! And if there are any inaccuracies about NYC, I didn't mean to. I have never been there, so I don't know the specifics.

* * *

**"Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey"  
Chapter 1: "When the Past Meets the Present"**

Sayuri stepped out into the morning sun in a red and gold kimono. Since she didn't have others to help her dress her like she used to, she could only wear the basic ensemble. Even her gold obi was tied in a basic knot behind her. The moment she stepped onto the sidewalk, she heard someone call her name.

"Ms. Nitta!"

Sayuri turned to see one of her friends of 33 years. His name was Zachariah Burberry, but everybody called him Riah. He and his wife, Emily, helped Sayuri and the Chairman move into a nice apartment. They were fortunate enough to run into them since not all sellers were courteous to potential buyers and told them everything they needed to know.

"Hello, Mr. Burberry."

Riah stopped on the sidewalk beside her from his daily morning jog. "Nice morning, isn't it?"

Sayuri gazed up at the clear blue sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and the winter frost was beginning to fade into the entrance of spring.

"It is." She replied softly, smiling.

He smiled as well and glanced up at the sky. "And didn't I tell you to call me Riah like everyone else?"

"Indeed you did." Sayuri looked back down at Riah, who had his eyes closed, taking in the warm sunlight. Riah had told her to call him by nickname many times before, but Sayuri never did. Maybe it was against her morals or maybe it was how she was raised, she didn't know. Either way, Sayuri was the only one who didn't call him Riah. As for Sayuri's name, only Riah called her anything but Sayuri.She never asked why, and just accepted it. Sayuri brushed a lone tear on her right cheek with her finger.

"Ms. Nitta?" Riah layed his right hand on her left shoulder softly. "Is everything OK? I didn't say anything wrong did I?" His voice was full of sorrow and his eyes gazed at her with concern.

Sayuri shook her head and blinked back any more tears from forming. "You didn't do anything wrong, Mr. Burberry. I'm fine." She turned and walked away from the man only 11 years younger than her. Her voice crackled as she let one tear fall, and then another.

As she walked down the sidewalk, she felt her eyelids let the flood of tears free. She always got like this this time year. Her birthday was only a week away. She never really had big birthday celebrations. In her hometown of Yoroido, when she was younger, her family was always too poor to do anything, and later, her mother's health starting declining. In Gion, a geisha was always too busy. Mameha had made sure she had a few celebratory rice cakes and squid as a small gesture, but that was it. Sayuri wasn't even sure if Mother and Auntie even knew when her birthday was.

Maybe Mameha was the one who she missed the most in Gion. She had enjoyed life with the Chairman for 14 years here in New York, but Gion would always have a place in her heart, just as Yoroido did. The Chairman always had their friends over for her birthday and they all laughed and had a good time. Mameha was the only one from Gion who ever came, but as of late, she wasn't able to come to the States as frequently.

Sayuri stopped suddenly and hung her head shamefully. _Is that really what I've done? Have I replaced Satsu with Mameha?_ She gasped softly as this realization dawned on her. She shook her head. _No, Satsu is still my older sister, no matter what happened._ Sayuri may have been angry at Satsu for leaving without her that day, but in the end, she understood why. Live at a _jorou-ya_ can be hard. Girls are forced to sell their bodies because they have no choice. They can't go anywhere else. Satsu was at a _jorou-ya_ in the Miyagawa-cho district just south of Gion called Tatsuyo. The two were immediately separated when Mr. Bekku told Chiyo to go into the Nitta okiya and took Satsu elsewhere: the Tatsuyo.

Sayuri sighed. Satsu had wanted to get out of that life, and that Tuesday was the only night she was able to escape. _At least she got away safely._ Sayuri thought and spotted a local park nearby. She let out a sigh of relief as she collapsed into one of the black wireframe benches.

She needed to be somewhere where she could let all her troubles go away. The park was the place where she could hear the wild creatures play and get lost in the serenity of it all.

"Excuse me, miss." A tiny voice interrupted her thoughts. Sayuri opened her eyes and looked at the child who she guessed to be around nine.

The young girl pointed upward into the tree branch just above Sayuri. Sayuri looked up and saw a red plastic ball stuck in the middle of two smaller branches. Before she could say anything, a dark haired woman came running up to the child. "Wendy, you don't need to talk to strangers! She can't get the ball down either. You shouldn't have threw it up there in the first place."

"But, Mommy, she looked-"

"It's alright." Sayuri smiled at the two. "I can get it down." She reached behind her and retrieved a basic dark brown fan from her obi. The two just stared at the older woman as Sayuri tossed the opened fan up with the right hand. The branch was just a few feet up so when the fan hit the branch where it broke into the two smaller branches, the ball bounced from its resting place. Wendy ran and caught the ball as the fan fell into Sayuri's left hand. She smiled at the woman again and placed the fan back into her obi.

The woman walked up to her daughter and turned to Sayuri. "Thank you ever so much, ma'am." They walked off hand in hand as Wendy turned to wave goodbye. "Thank you, miss!" Sayuri waved back, smiling gently. She could tell they were impressed.

When they were out of sight, Sayuri sighed mournfully. _She's about the same age I was when me and Satsu were sold._ She remembered the day Mr. Bekku took them to Kyoto for the first time as if it were yesterday. She was forced into the life of a geisha, but soon grew to desire that more than ever. She came to love the Chairman and was fortunate enough to meet up with him again because she strived to become a geisha. That was a part of her life, so she always carried around a fan in her obi. She left the more valuable ones in her apartment. She never danced anymore as she would sometimes do when Mameha came to visit, but she still felt empty if she didn't have a fan with her. Since she hadn't practiced in the past few decades, she was suprised she could still toss her fan around like that.

Just outstide the park, the paperboy was throwing out copies of _The New York Times_ shouting that nobody would want to miss out on a rare visit from a foreigner. A few people picked up a copy and gasped.

"What's someone like her doing coming here?" A woman asked her friends nearby.

"What kind of name is Hatsumiyo?" one of them responded.

_Hatsumiyo?_ Sayuri's eyes widened as she remembered that name. _Where do I know name from?_ She quickly grabbed a copy and glanced at the front page headline: **Geisha Hatsumiyo coming to New York City.**

Sayuri gasped with realization. She knew who that was.

She whispered softly. "But why's Pumpkin coming here?"

* * *

I deducted from small details in the book that Chiyo/Sayuri's birthday is between September and Spring, so I made it kind of in between. 


	3. Opening Up

_**Edited 8/30/07**_

Disclaimer: I don't own MoaG! As said before, the page numbers to where you can find the quotes from the book are listed at the bottom.

* * *

**"Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey"  
Chapter 2:"Opening Up"**

"Pumpkin..." Sayuri whispered again. She put her hands back on to her sides and closed her eyes. _Pumpkin..._

"Ms. Nitta?" Riah's gentle eyes startled Sayuri and the newspaper fell to the ground silently. She opened her eyes to see her friend bend over to pick it up.

"Is this what you were looking at?" He held the paper up to read it and looked back at Sayuri's solemn face. "Hatsumiyo? Do you know her?"

When she didn't answer and just lowered her gaze, he pulled her left hand with his right gently. "Let's sit down, Ms. Nitta." He pulled her to the same bench she was sitting at earlier. After a moment, she sat down and Riah followed suit.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Burberry." Sayuri said quietly and looked up at the sky. It had become cloudier, blocking out more of the sun.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Ms. Nitta." Riah responded quickly. "You must have bad memories of your life in Japan. It's OK to feel sad. You don't tralk about it, so you and Ken were the only ones who knew about it. Besides Mameha, of course, of the few times I've met her. Is this Hatsumiyo... one of your friends from there also?"

"She... was." Sayuri said solemnly.

Riah just watched her eyes waver from the memories. _I would like to know more, but I'm not going to force her. If must be hard. After all, it's been 33 years._

Sayuri lowered her eyes to the green grass below her kimono. The wind whistled as the grass rustled against the hem of her kimono.

"Although I left Kyoto 33 years ago, I haven't seen Pumpkin since I was 29. Last I heard, she was living a life far worse than anyone should but that was 40 years ago..."

Sayuri sighed and looked up at Riah. She let out a small gasp as she saw that the younger man was smiling gently at her. _Could I... really tell him everything?_

As if he read her mind, he simply said. "You can tell me, Ms. Nitta."

Sayuri cracked a little smile and nodded. She remembered the last time she spoke with Pumpkin.

"I thought you were my friend." Sayuri had said as Pumkin, her once smiling friend at the Nitta okiya many years ago, glared at her with flashing angry eyes.

"I thought you were my friend too, once. But that was a long time ago."

Those words had hurt Sayuri deeply, but she tried hard not to show it. She also remembered the last words they had ever spoken to each other, only a few minutes after.

"But, Pumpkin, couldn't you have refused to help me? Why did you have to bring the Chairman?"

"I know perfectly well how you feel about him. Whenever there's nobody looking, your eyes hang all over him like fur on a dog. You took something from me a long time ago, Sayuri. How does it feel now?"(1)

They stayed standing like that for a few moments, and then departed. Pumpkin never got her answer.

Sayuri sighed as she watched Riah lay his right hand on her left shoulder. "Honestly, I never meant to take anything from her. It was all Mameha. She convinced me that the only way for me to become a popular and successful geisha was to become the Nitta okiya's daughter. You see, that was what Pumpkin wanted. She wanted Mother to adopt her, so she'd have a place to stay at to build her future."

"But you were adopted instead?"

Sayuri nodded and blinked back tears. "I wonder... how she's doing now."

"It's OK to cry, Ms. Nitta... Listen, we can go watch her performance tomorrow."

"You mean, you want to go, too?" Sayuri whispered.

Riah nodded. "If you'll let me. And I can bring Emily, too."

"I'd like that..." She said softly and smiled slightly.

----------

Riah held up the glass frame that held the Chairman's hankerchief. "He gave you this 58 years ago?"

"I was only 11 years old." Sayuri responded.

Riah placed the frame on the table gently. "How much older was Ken than you?" He paused for a brief second. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to talk about him."

Sayuri shook her head slowly. "No. It's fine. He was only 10 years older than me. He was the one..." Her lips formed a straight line as her voice began to waver. "...the one who made me want to become a geisha. He was also the one who set everything up for me to become one. After he gave me the hankerchief, he made a deal with Mameha to take me in and train me."

"You don't have to say anymore, Ms. Nitta." Riah stopped her from saying more. "You can tell me when you're ready."

Sayuri nodded as Riah handed her a tissue from the bedside table to his left. She took it but just held it in her right hand. "I'm sorry, Mr. Burberry. An old woman like me shouldn't be crying over her past."

"Anything but that, Ms. Nitta." Riah interjected.

Sayuri closed her right fist and sat down on the bed behind her. "Thank you for listening."

He smiled. "I'd like to hear more about your life in Japan sometime, but only when you want to talk about it." He stopped and sat down beside her as he layed his left hand around her shoulder. "How about tomorrow I come over here and us three can go to the theater together? That way, you won't be alone. You'll be with friends."

Sayuri looked up at Riah and smiled. "Tha'd be nice."

---------

"So, Sayuri knew this Hatsumiyo when she was in Kyoto?" Emily Burberry asked her husband as they waited for Sayuri to come out.

Riah nodded. "She used to be Ms. Nitta's friend, but after an argument they had, they never spoke to each other again."

"How unfortunate." Emily frowned and continued to look at the closed door of Sayuri's apartment.

Emily and Riah had been married for 35 years. Emily was three years younger than Riah, but sometimes she acted like the older one. At 55, Emily was retired like her husband, and just as active, if not more. They never had any children though, because Emily wasn't able to bear any after a serious accident she had as a child.

After a few moments, Sayuri's door swung open.

"You look amazing, Ms. Nitta." Riah commented.

Emily nodded in agreement as she just stood in silence. Sayuri was dressed in an aqua-colored kimono with gold waves, like water, near the bottom hem. Her sleeves were short, about midway between her elbows and wrists. All the lining on the kimono were gold as well.

Riah extended his left hand to Sayuri and right to Emily. He smiled gently at both of them in turn. "Then, in that case, allow me the pleasure of escoring two lovely ladies to an exilerating performance."

----------

It only took 15 minutes to reach 53rd Street on Broadway Avenue in a taxi Riah had called. He had also bought the tickets the day before. After he had saw Sayuri's reaction at the newspaper the day before in the park, he knew she wanted to go see the geisha perform, or at least, part of it.

"Ms. Nitta?" Riah asked softly.

"I'm fine." Sayuri's voice wavered as she stepped in the doorway. They were an hour early, so the theater was only half full. A few of the people in the audience gasped and looked toward the right side of the stage.

"Is that Hatsumiyo?" One whispered to his friend.

Sayuri looked up at the stage to see a woman behind the curtain in the shadow of the overhead lights, looking over the audience curiously.

Sayuri couldn't help but smile a little. _That's definitely her. Pumpkin... finally, after all these years, we meet up once again_.

* * *

As I said in the previous chapter, if there are any misaccuracies on New York, feel free to correct me and I will change it accordingly. I only did general research on the nearest theater to 5th Avenue.

1 - quotes from pages 406-407


	4. Hatsumiyo

Disclaimer: I don't own Memoirs of a Geisha.

* * *

**"Memoirs of a Geisha: Sayuri's Next Journey"  
Chapter 3: "Hatsumiyo"**

"There's a seat." Emily pointed to the front row. "We can see better that way."

Riah nodded and started walking toward the front. He turned when he noticed Sayuri still stood behind him. "Ms. Nitta? Are you coming?"

The woman suddenly broke away from her thoughts and followed the couple. Sayuri sat on the far left with Emily on her right. Riah sat on the other side of Emily.

"Ms. Nitta, does she dance good?" Riah asked her.

"I... don't know." She replied, her eyes still on the red curtain. _Come to think of it, I never really saw Pumpkin dance, even though we lived in the same okiya. We hardly ever had a full conversation after Hastumomo became her older sister._ "It was all her fault..." Sayuri whispered to herself. She blinked and saw that Pumpkin had disappeared from behind the curtain.

----------

"Hatsumiyo!" a woman called from the back. "Hatsumiyo, there's less than an hour before your performance. We need to make sure you're ready!"

Pumpkin sighed and retreat to the back."Fine, I'm coming, Nadori!"

"Why, Hatsumyo!" Nadori gasped as the geisha got closer to her. "You don't look very happy! Did something-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Pumpkin said sternly and went down the hall to her dressing room. She looked at herself in the mirror with a longing look. _Who was she? She wouldn't quit looking at me. Some of the audience may not have saw me but that woman.. She definitely saw me. She had two friends with her and I didn't recognize any one of them. Am I... supposed to know her?_

"Hatsumiyo-sama!" a woman called and opened the door.

"I know, Nadori- Oh, it's you Sachike." Pumpkin turned toward the Japanese woman with an unreadable expression.

"Hatsumiyo-sama, allow me the pleasure of dressing you in your kimono." Sachiki bowed her head slightly.

Pumpkin sighed and closed her eyes. "You know I can't say no to you. Come on."

Sachike quickly grabbed the creamy white kimono with plum blossoms decorations hanging on the rack beside her. As she slid it over Pumpkin's shoulders, she paused for a moment. "Hatsumiyo-sama, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Sachike." She said quickly.

Sachike looked at Pumpkin's tense face in the mirror. "But, Hatsumiyo-sama, you-"

"I said, nothing's wrong!" Pumpkin yelled and Sachike stumbled back in surprise. "Why are you and Nadori so worried about me?!"

Sachike could only stare at the older woman in stunned silence. "H-Hatsu-"

"Leave me alone both of you." Pumpkin's voice was a low growl as she hastily stood up, picked up her obi and walked out of the room.

Nadori came running into the room and clasped a right hand over her mouth. "Sachike!"

"I'm fine, Riwatama-san." Sachike steadied herself with the back of the chair. "Hatsumiyo-sama seems angry at something today. She insists nothing is wrong, though."

Nadori looked toward the floor for a moment. "Sachike, she's always been angry at something. Even when I first met her in the Hanami-cho section in Kyoto, she was. It's almost like she's angry at herself as well as another person. Maybe the person who put her in that area, or her parents. I don't know."

"Wow, even that was a few years before I met up with her..." _Hatsumiyo-sama..._

----------

"Only a few more minutes now..." Emily smiled at Sayuri.

Sayuri nodded, anxiously waiting to see her former friend again. _We may have ended on a bad note all those years ago, but even so, it'll be nice to see her again. Maybe we'll get a chance to talk._

Right then, a woman stepped on stage and flashed a smile. The whole theater was now full and buzzing with whispers. Everyone slowly grew silent as the woman surveyed the audience.

"Is that Hatsumiyo?" Emily whispered so only Sayuri could hear her.

Sayuri only gazed at the woman on stage with a curious stare. _That's not Pumpkin. She's way too young. That must be one of her servants._ She closed her eyes briefly, remembering the look on Pumpkin's face as Hatsumiyo forbade them to ever speak to each other again. _I guess, in a way, that was the last time I saw the real Pumpkin. Hatsumomo had already taken control. And, now... even after all these years, she probably hasn't changed._ She opened her eyes and smiled weakly. _I wonder if Pumpkin really is the only person around me that hasn't changed..._

"...and now, I present to you, the one and only Hatsumiyo!"

Sayuri quickly snapped out of her thoughts to look at the geisha. _That's... her..._

The younger woman turned to the geisha's calm stare. "Hatsumiyo... are you sure you're alright? You still don't-"

Pumpkin shot the woman a warning look. "Get off the stage, Nadori. It's time for my performance."

Nadori nodded and quickly left the stage. Pumpkin lifted her arms to the left and gracefully opened her fans. The red flower design on her white fans were enchanting to the audience as she twirled them in the air. She stopped suddenly, surveying the crowd as her fans rested in her fingers.

Pumpkin's eyes slowly went across the rows one at a time. Finally, her eyes settled on the woman in the aqua-colored kimono. She narrowed her gaze. _There she is... Who is she? Why is she looking at me like that?_

Sayuri didn't take her eyes off the geisha. She stared at her intently, as if looking straight through her to her soul. Pumpkin...

Out of the corner of her eye, Pumpkin saw Nadori signal with her right hand. Pumpkin then threw her fans up and suddenly fake snow began falling.

_What?_ Sayuri flinched as she distinctively remembered Pumpkin's next movements. _That's the snow dance I did!_

The moves were almost an exact copy of Sayuri's dance. _How does she know this dance so well? She must have studied it repeatedly... Pumpkin..._ Sayuri's eyes wavered as she gripped the arm rests.

"Sayuri..." Emily spoke gently and lay her left hand over Sayuri's right. "Let's go in the back." She stood up and waited for the older woman to move.

"What...?" Sayuri mouthed as she looked at Emily for a second. She finally agreed and stood up slowly. She nodded and Emily smiled.

"Let's go."

----------

The dance ended 10 minutes later, and the geisha received a huge round of applause. As the applause slowed, Riah looked behind him. _There they are. They missed the best part of the dance._ He waved his right hand in the air so Sayuri and Emily could see him through the crowd leaving the theater. "Emily, Ms. Nitta!"

Pumpkin froze. She turned to stare at the man who had yelled the two names. _Nitta..? Surely, he can't mean..._

The woman on the right smiled. "There he is, Sayuri. Let's go."

"No... way...!" Pumpkin breathed, but she didn't move an inch.

As Emily and Sayuri met up with Riah, Sayuri caught a glance at Pumpkin on stage.

"What's wrong, Ms. Nit-"

"Is that really you, Nitta Sayuri?!" Pumpkin yelled and her voice echoed off the walls since they were the only ones in the theater now.

All Sayuri could do was stare into Pumpkin's angry eyes.

* * *

So, how am I doing on this story? Good? Bad? Give me some feedback, please! I couldn't find the page the snow dance was on, so I didn't write in the details of it. I didn't want any wrong information concerning it, so I cut out most of it. If the honorifics(san and sama) confused you, I will put up a list and their meanings as this isn't the only chapter they will be used. 


	5. A Broken Past

_**Edited: 6/23/07**_

Disclaimer: I don't own MoaG!

I decided to put the honorifics' meaning in here anyway. Since they are used alot in this chapter in particular. _-San_ is used for a person you hold in higher regard to yours, or to a person who you just met. In traditional Japanese custom, saying someone's first name without an honorific is insulting the person you're talking to. It's like you don't have any respect for them. _-Sama_ is used a person you hold in an even higher regard than _-san_. It's used in the same context, just representing someone you respect higher than _-san_.

* * *

**"Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey"  
Chapter 4: "A Broken Friendship"**

"Hatsumiyo! What's wron-" Nadori stopped as she came on the stage and saw the angry scowl. "Hatsumiyo...?"

"Riwatama-san, what's wrong with Hatsumiyo-sama?" Sachike emerged from the curtains on the right of the stage beside Nadori. "Why is she yelling at a customer?"

When Sayuri didn't answer, Pumpkin stepped off the stage and walked closer to her. "It really _is_ you." Her angry scowl didn't change.

Sayuri's calm solemn stare didn't break. "Pumpkin, I'm sorry."

"Pumpkin?" Sachike asked Nadori.

Nadori frowned the younger woman beside her. "Sachike, don't you know anything? Hatsumiyo is only her geisha name. Pumpkin must be her real name."

Sachike lowered her head to try her shame. "I'm sorry, Riwatama-san. I've only known her as Hatsumiyo."

"Me, too, Sachike, me too." Nadori whispered softly. _Is this woman part of Hatsumiyo's past? Is she also a gei-_

"What are you doing here, Sayuri? I didn't expect to ever see you again." Pumpkin's tone was still angry, but her voice was lowered.

"I didn't either, Pumpk-"

"I thought Amami was the last time we'd ever meet... and I couldn't have cared any less. You took away what could have been my home... you sided with your dear Mameha and became my enemy, my rival. _We were in the same okiya_... and yet, we were against each other." Her voice started to crack as she continued talking. "That day on Amami was the first time I really saw the other side of you. The look on your face... it showed how much your love for the Chairman had been tampered with. You know why I brought him, so the Chairman would see you were with the Minister. I did it because you took away what was mine. You took-"

"Hatsumiyo-sama, do you know this woman?" Sachike asked quietly as she stepped off the stage behind Pumpkin.

"Sachike!" Nadori shouted after the younger woman with a warning tone.

"Why aren't you in the back, Sachike? You too, Nadori." Pumpkin growled without looking at the two.

Sachike bowed her head slightly. "_Gomenasai_, Hatsumiyo-sama."(1)

Nadori stepped up in front of Sayuri placed her hands on her lap as she bowed deeply. "Excuse us, my name is Riwatama Nadori, but you can call me Nadori, and this is Sachike, Kadawa Sachike."

Sayuri bowed her head. "Nice to meet you, Nadori-san. I am Nitta Sayuri."

Nadori gasped as she stared at the older woman's gently smile. "You're... You're Nitta Sayuri?! I... I don't deserve your presence..." She bowed deeply once again.

"Sayuri-sama... it really is you!" Sachike approached her slowly, avoiding eye contact. "I've always wanted to meet you. If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Hatsumiyo-sama?"

"She was a friend of mine... before I became a geisha." Sayuri said softly, looking at Pumpkin, remembering their former friendship.

Nadori noticed Sayuri's longing look. _This must be who Hatsumiyo is angry at._

Despite the interruptiong, Pumpkin never took her eyes of Sayuri. "Nadori, Sachike, stay out of this." Her voice was low, almost warning them.

Emily and Riah just watched from the side. "No wonder they drifted apart." Riah said silently. _Ms. Nitta's friend hasn't forgotten the incident._

"Riah?" Emily looked at her husband curiously. _How much has Sayuri told him?_ She lifted her left hand and wrapped her nervous fingers around his.

"Pumpkin, I-" Sayuri began.

"Just look at you, little Miss Perfect! You think everything happens for a reason! If that's the case, then why did your sister leave you in Gion that day?"

Sayuri stepped back in silent shock. "Satsu-san?" She whispered, wavily. She hadn't heard her sister mentioned in 60 years. Nobody ever spoke of Satsu after the day she ran away.

"Ms. Nitta..." Riah didn't know what to do as Sayuri held back tears.

Sayuri closed her eyes, trying to prevent the tears from falling. She kept her posture steady, as that was what she trained her body to do: not show emotions.

Pumpking smiled knowingly. She knew she had hit a weak spot. "What's the matter, Sayuri?"

"Hatsumiyo-sama!" Sachike suddenly yelled.

"Sachike!" Nadori pulled her back gently. "Don't interfere!"

Sachike ignored the older woman and continued pulling away from her. "You don't need to speak to Sayuri-sama like that!"

Without warning, Pumpkin turned and slapped Sachike. Sachike reeled back into Nadori's arms. The geisha stared coldly at her and simply walked backstage.

Sayuri watched as Pumpkin disappeared and then turned to Sachike. "Sachike-san, are you alright?"

"Sayuri-sama..." Sachike covered her right cheek with her right hand and looked in Sayuri's blue-gray eyes, trying to stop her own tears. "I'm OK, Sayuri-sama. What she did... She said..."

"Don't worry about me, Sachike-san." Sayuri smiled pleasantly.

Riah and Emily approached the group. "Sayuri..." Emily began.

Sayuri shook her head at the two. "Nadori-san, take care of Sachike-san. I think... I think it's time for me to go home."

"But, Ms. Nitta..."

Sayuri swiftly turned away so they couldn't see her hands start shaking. "Mr. Burberry, please tell them my address in case they want to see a new face." When she suddenly ran out of the door, Emily followed her. "Sayuri! Hold on!"

A few moments later, Riah handed Nadori a small sheet of paper and quickly said goodbye as he started toward the outside as well.

Sayuri stopped running as the afternoon sun enveloped her and she fell to her knees. When Emily and Riah met up with her, Sayuri was on her knees, crumpled up on the sidewalk.

Some pedestrians stopped and watched her while some just walked on by.

"Sayuri!" Emily kneeled down beside her as Riah did the same on Sayuri's other side.

"Ms. Nitta... It's OK to cry. It's OK..."

"I'm sorry..." Sayuri whispered in broken sobs as she released a flood of tears.

----------

Sachike and Nadori hurried past Pumpkin's door as they heard her slam her fist on the table yet again. "Is she still mad at Sayuri-sama?" Sachike ventured silently.

Nadori stopped and unfolded the small sheet of paper in the right hand with ther finger. "What really happened between those two?" She whispered as she read the address and phone number again.

"Riwatama-san, do you think we should?" Sachike asked quietly, almost carefully.

Nadori tightened her lips in frustration. "I... don't know, Sachike. I really don't know." _Should we?_

"I know I shouldn't have said that to Hatsumiyo-sama, but..." Sachike trailed off. She didn't know what to say. _But... The way she was speaking to Sayuri-sama... I wonder if Sayuri-sama even did anything to Hatsumiyo-sama at all._ She looked at Nadori's helpless expression and sighed inwardly.

Nadori shook her head, looking back at her. "It's alright, Sachike. I know exactly how you feel." She swiftly put the paper back in her pink and white kimono. _But would staying with Sayuri-sama really be better than here?_

* * *

(1) - _Gomenasai_ means "I'm sorry" in Japanese. 


	6. Remembering Satsu

Disclaimer: I don't own MoaG!

* * *

**"Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey"  
Chapter 5: "Remembering Satsu"**

_Ms. Nitta..._ Riah sat on the cerulean blue couch in Sayuri's apartment. Him and Emily had helped her home and then Emily urged her into the kitchen.

"Stay out here." She had told her husband firmly.

_Ms. Nitta is still upset._ Riah sighed helplessly and continued to stare at the wooden swinging door to the kitchen, waiting. _It just makes you wonder how deep their conflict is. It must go deeper than how Ms. Nitta explained it to me earlier. Atleast, on Hatsumiyo's side._

----------

"I'm sorry, Emily... I must look like an idiot crying like this."

"No, Sayuri! It's perfectly OK to cry. Most people over here haven't had the same like as you. I don't know exactly what happened when you were in Kyoto, but..." Emily trailed off as she looked at Sayuri's dark colored hair. She smiled. Sayuri may have been older than her, but her looks didn't reflect it. _Her pain is greater than anything though..._

"Satsu-san... She mentioned Satsu-san..." Sayuri whispered as she wiped a few remaining tears away from her eyes.

"Is she... your sister?"

Sayuri turned to the younger woman with wavering eyes. Her words were filled with sadness. "She is. Atleast... she was." She closed her eyes, trying to push back the image of her sister. She could only remember the fear stricken face that walked back into the Tatsuyo. That was their last conversation. "I last saw her 60 years ago. I... I don't even know if she's still alive."

"Is there... any way you can get in contact with her?" Emily asked softly. "Do you know where she is now?"

Sayuri shook her head as her hands trembled. "All I know is that she went through Yoroido when she ran away from Gion. No word from her since. I guess that's to be expected, though. It wasn't long after that when I became a maiko and my name changed to Sayuri."

"What was your name before that?"

Sayuri paused for a moment. No one had ever cared for her old name since she became Nitta Sayuri. "My old name? My old name was Chiyo... Sakamoto Chiyo." She whispered, remembering a comment that Satsu had made about her name.

Satsu had smiled at her younger sister. "Chiyo-chan, you know I'm smarter than you, right?"

Chiyo frowned playfully. "And why do you say that?"

"Because of our names." She said knowingly. "'Sa' means gap or difference, and 'tsu' means expert."

Chiyo just looked at her sister blankly.

"'Chi' means wisdom and '-yo' is used for a younger child, so you have younger wisdom than me, and there's a difference in my expertice." Satsu just flashed a smile.

Sayuri gazed at her right palm, wondering if Satsu could remember that as well. She blinked back tears, wondering why only the happy, non-serious memories came back to her. _Why can't I remember other things?_

"Chiyo." Emily said it to herself quietly.

Sayuri flinched inwardly. She hadn't heard that name in over half her life.

"That's a nice name." Emily smiled at the older woman. When she saw Sayuri's solemn eyes, she squeeed her shoulder gently. "But I'll still call you Sayuri if you want."

Sayuri nodded and wiped away a single tear with her right hand. "Yes, thank you, Emily..."

Emily continued to gaze at Sayuri. "Are you remembering the good times with your sister?"

Sayuri looked at Emily slightly surprised. _How did she know?_

Emily smiled knowingly. "It's OK. Your eyes are so clear, you're easy to read. They remind of... water."

----------

Pumpkin glared in the mirror at her own reflection. _Why did I do that? Sachike's not the one I'm angry at. It's **her**... Sayuri._ "And all she did was stand there!" She exclaimed and slammed her fists in her lap, fighting the urge to shatter the glass. "She... She didn't even do anything! I will get back at her if its the last thing I do..." She suddenly smiled in realization. "As a matter of fact..." She walked to the door and swung it open hastily. "Hey, Nadori! Come here for a minute!"

----------

Sayuri mused quietly over Emily's comment. Satsu had said something about her eyes, too, once.

Satsu had just peeked into their mother's room. She didn't go in there, since their father was in there, also. Over the past few months, the room's atmosphere had changed drastically. Any one who walked in there would immediately feel depressed somehow.

Satsu started to turn into her own room, but Chiyo's timid voice stopped her. "Satsu-san, what's wrong?"

Satsu stopped and turned to gaze at her sister. She didn't say anything as she stared emotionlessly into Chiyo's calm, yet curious eyes.

Chiyo didn't move, wondering what her older sister was thinking. She watched Satsu curiously in that small moment of silence.

Satsu finally blinked and looked down at her own trembling hands. She balled up her fists and Chiyo could tell she was trying her hardest to hide her emotions.

"Water is always running. It's always changing and nothing can block its path. Atleast, it's supposed to keep flowing..." Satsu whispered before running into her room.

Chiyo could do nothing but stare at Satsu's wooden door as she listened to the older girl's mournful crying. Satsu never cries, Chiyo realized with a sudden flinch.

Chiyo knew then why Satsu was crying and didn't want anyone to know it. Satsu was always the older sister, so she took it as her responsibility to act as if nothing was wrong. She had always avoided the subject of their mother's condition when Chiyo brought it up, after all.

Sayuri clenched her own fists, remembering the pain and fear in Satsu's eyes that night. That night was when Satsu finally accepted the fact that their mother was dying, and she couldn't hold back anymore.

Without warning, Sayuri stood up and walked over to the sink. She turned on the cold water at minimum pressure and waited a moment. "It's always changing," Satsu had said. _...And nothing can block its path._ Sayuri added to herself as she slowly opened her right hand to the running water, facing upward.

As the water ran into the woman's wavering hand, it just flowed across her slightly parted fingertips and continued down on both sides of her index and middle fingers. The two smaller streams of water joined with the bigger middle one about half an inch below her fingers and rushed down toward the drain below.

_...And nothing can block it's path._ Satsu's words echoed in Sayuri's mind as she balled up her fist again and slumped over the white marble counter, shedding years of sorrow, forgetting about the running water.

After silently watching her, Emily approached her and slipped her hands on Sayuri's shoulders gently. "Let it out, Sayuri, let it out."

----------

Riah waited in the next room over, waiting patiently, but still agitated. _I'm sorry, Ms. Nitta... If there was anything I could do..._ He looked at the floor, helpless as he could only listen to Sayuri's painful sobbing.

The shrill ring of Sayuri's creamy white desk phone startled Riah out of his melacholy thoughts. After gathering his thoughts and confirming that Emily nor Sayuri was going to answer it, he reached to the rectangular table in front with his left hand.

"Hello, Riah speaking." He spoke into the receiver, wondering who would call Sayuri call this time of day.

"Riah? Oh, you must be one of Sayuri-sama's friends. Is she available?" The woman spoke quietly, almost unwillingly.

Riah glanced up at the kitchen door. He could still hear Sayuri's steady sobs. "No, she isn't... May I ask who this is?" He asked cautiously as he didn't recognize the voice.

After about 30 seconds of silence, the woman replied unsteadily. "This is Nadori. Just tell her that Hatsumiyo wants her to come over to the theatre."

Click.

Riah stared at the phone in his left hand, listening to the rhythmic beeping. _What was that about... I wonder... I just hope Hatsumiyo isn't up to anything._

----------

An hour later, the three were standing in front of the doorway. Emily was squeezing Sayuri's right shoulder gently.

"Ms. Nitta, are you alright?" Riah asked on her left side.

Sayuri nodded and continued to look at the door, not knowing what to expect. The door slowly creaked open and Nadori bowed, avoiding eye contact.

Sayuri looked at her curiously, wondering what caused Nadori's change in demeanor, but before she could open her mouth, Nadori spoke up.

"This way." Nadori spoke shortly, quickly turned and led them down the hallway to her left. She walked hastily, but nervously, Sayuri noticed. _Nadori-san..._

"Hatsumiyo, she's here." Nadori stopped at the third doow with the label _Dressing Room_. Pumpkin opened the door and Nadori quickly stepped aside.

"Good, you're here..." Pumpkin smiled and looked knowingly into Sayuri's eyes.

Sayuri stared back at her cautiously. _Does she have something planned?_

"Come on in, Sayuri..." Pumpkin stepped aside, allowing the three in the dressing room. "I want to discuss something with you..."

"What is it, Pumpkin?" Sayuri asked slowly as Emily and Riah moved behind her.

Pumpkin smiled again and closed the door silently. "I have an offer, Nitta Sayuri... An offer for you to come back to Gion with me."

The sound of Pumpkin locking the door echoed through the quiet room.

* * *

Just as an added note, the flashback scene with Satsu and Chiyo did not happen in the book. If any flashback scenes happen that come from the book, I will put it as a footnote which pages it came from. 


	7. Hatsumiyo's Plan

**_Edited 5/29/08_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Memoirs of a Geisha.

* * *

**"Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey"  
Chapter 6: "Hatsumiyo's Plan"**

Pumpkin smirked. She had Sayuri right where she wanted her. Pumpkin pulled her right hand from the doorknob and walked over to her table. She leaned her left palm on the left corner and curled her lips upward. "So, what do you say?"

--

Nadori closed her eyes helplessly. _Why... Why, Hatsumiyo? Why must you torture Sayuri-sama so?_

"Riwatama-san! Did Sayuri-sama stop by yet?" Sachike came up to Nadori from her room a few doors down. "...Riwatama-san?"

"She's here." Nadori said through clenched teeth. "She's with Hatsumiyo now."

--

Emily and Riah looked at Sayuri's trembling fists, then rested their eyes on the back of her head.

"...What?" Sayuri's voice was barely audible.

Pumpkin approached Sayuri and lifted her chin with her right hand. "You heard me. What's wrong? Don't you want to go back? You left Gion 33 years ago with him. You haven't seen anybody except Mameha since then. Don't you want to see your friends again?" She smiled again, cruelly. "Nobu? Auntie? Or even... your sister?"

Sayuri jerked her head up and Pumpkin pulled back her hand. Sayuri's fists were trembling worse now, holding back a flood of emotion. Her eyes flashed anger at Pumpkin as she turned to the door. "Let me out of here, Pumpkin."

Pumpkin didn't move. She just looked straight at Sayuri's back. "Why? So you can run away again?"

Sayuri froze, Pumpkin's words immediately bringing back memories. She turned around to look at Pumpkin's cruel smile. He pale lips tightened and eyes settled on Pumpkin's smiling eyes.

Pumpkin continued. "You know what I'm talking about, Sayuri... don't you?"

"It's a shame..." Sayuri finally spoke. Her voice was unsteady, but firm. "It really is a shame... We used to be close, but after Hatsumomo became your older sister, you slowly changed. You still tried to be my friend, but Hatsumomo's jealous personality took you over. You're just like her now. I knew you had became her on that day..."

"Oh, my, Sayuri!" Pumpkin gingerly put her four fingers, feigning shock and hiding her sly smile. "You mean on the day you betrayed the man you had loved ever since you were a child?"

--

All Nadori and Sachike could hear was silence. They could imagine Sayuri just standing there, not being able to do anything about Pumpkin's harsh words.

_Sayuri-sama..._ Nadori clenched her fists and tightened her mouth. _Sayuri-sama..._

"Riwatama-san?" Sachike whispered, watching the woman's shaking hands.

Nadori lifted her head toward Hatsumiyo's door. "Hatsumiyo..." She said quietly. She then spoke louder. "Hatsumiyo!"

She then could hear Pumpkin's commanding voice.

--

Pumpkin looked at the door with glaring eyes. _Nadori..._ "Nadori! Stay out of affairs that don't concern you!"

"You shouldn't talk to Sayuri-sama like that, Hatsumiyo!" Nadori shouted, trying to keep calm. "You're just-"

It only took Pumpkin less than three second to unlock the door and sling it open, making Nadori flinch back. Pumpkin growled under her breath and approached her. She slapped Nadori with her right hand, leaving a light red mark on her left cheek. "I told you stay out it." Pumpkin's voice was low, but they could hear the anger behind it.

Nadori could only stare at the proud geisha. Pumpkin had never acted out in anger against her. Then again, Nadori had never openly opposed her before. All eyes were on Pumpkin, silently waiting for her next move.

"Hatsumi-"

"Don't speak to me." Pumpkin gritted her teeth and turned around. She pointed beside her toward the hallway they entered from half an hour earlier. "You can go, Sayuri. I'll expect an answer within 24 hours. If you don't tell me anything by then, I'll go back by myself."

Sayuri met Pumpkin's angry gaze with her own gentle gaze and walked out into the hallway. Pumpkin swiftly stepped into the room and slammed the door shut after Riah and Emily exited. They all waited a moment, but no sound came from the other side of the door.

"Well, we'll be going." Sayuri spoke up, solemnly.

"_Matte_, Sayuri-sama... _Gomenasai_!" Sachike bowed gracefully.1

"...Sachike-san?" Sayuri turned to look at her.

"Sayuri-sama..." Sachike spoke quietly, looking at the floor. "Gomenasai. Hatsumiyo-sama... What she said..."

As Sachike trailed off, Sayuri forced a smile. "It's... It's OK, Sachike-san."

Everybody could tell that the older woman was anything happy, even when she hastily turned to leave a few seconds later.

--

"I think... that was Hatsumiyo's plam." Emily told Riah as they sat in Sayuri's apartment. Sayuri had been in her small bedroom for 30 minutes now. Emily looked into her lap helplessly. "It was her plan all along."

"What are you talking about, Emily?" The man looked up at her. "What plan?"

Emily had clenched her fists so tight that the marks from her fingernails appeared on her palm. "Sayuri..." She said, trying to hold back tears. "Sayuri..."

"Emily, get a hold of yourself.." Riah wrapped his arms around his wife comfortably, pulling her close. "Emily..."

"Japan... it still holds a place in her heart." Emily rested her head on Riah's left shoulder. "That as what Hatsumiyo expected, Riah."

_Mrs. Nitta..._ Riah remembered the conversation with Sayuri he had had. He didn't think he'd ever forget the unspoken sorrow on her face as she told him about Pumpkin and their broken friendship.

"If Sayuri didn't have a strong nostalgia for her homecountry, Hatsumiyo's plan wouldn't have worked." He voice was soft, reflecting Sayuri's unrequited sadness. "By giving her a chance to go back to Japan, Sayuri can see old faces again. But, on the other hand..." Emily paused and her eyes glazed over, remembering how Sayuri's wavering voice had sounded as she spoke of Satsu. "On the other hand, she has to face emotional obstacles."

Riah nodded, rubbing his wife's short brown hair. "After all, it's been 33 years, right?"

Emily nodded solemnly. "That's pretty much half her life. And I feel..." She squeezed her fists together. "I feel as if I should cry for Sayuri. If you'd notice, especially after these past few days, she has a past that she always remembers, but she keeps it inside. She pretends nothing is wrong. I'm sure she talked to Ken about it when he was alive. He knew her in Japan, after all, so he would understand better."

Riah nodded again, but before he could speak, Sayuri's door opened. She had dried her tears, and was smiling, although Emily and Riah could tell it was forced.

"Sayuri..."

"I'm fine, Emily." Sayuri spoke sharply, and the two flinched. She quickly lowered her tone as she saw them intake breath sharply. "I mean... I'm fine. I just had to have time to think, and..."

Emily stood up and started to step toward her. "Sayuri before you decide-"

Sayuri looked at Emily fiercely, her tears' residue still pooled at the bottom of her eyes. "And I'm going. I'm going back to Gion, and nobody can stop me."

* * *

1 -_Matte_: Wait  
_Gomenasai_: I am sorry

I don't remember Pumpkin ever using honorifics in the book as Sayuri did. I hope I'm keeping the characters' personalities close to the book anyway. If you ever see something wrong, please correct me and, if possible, what part of the book you're referring to. Thanks! Hope you're enjoying my story so far.

Useless information: As of this chapter, I average 1476 words a chapter, excluding this note. I'm thinking about making 1500 my goal for this story.


	8. Emergence

Disclaimer: I don't own Memoirs of a Geisha.

I deeply apologize for my not updating. Life got in the way and the writing became second priority. I plan to start updating again though. I can promise you thing: The rate of me updating will not be as fast as it used to. I will try my best to atleast get one chapter a month, maybe more if I have the time. If you ever have any questions or comments, you can always PM me or e-mail me. Thank you all for your patience, and here's to all those who have stayed with my story, and to any new readers this update may have caught. Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey **  
**Chapter 7: "Emergence"**

Emily hated to make the call, but Sayuri had told her to. She hung up the phone, remembering Hatsumiyo's smug voice. "Oh, is that so? She said yes? Excellent, excellent. Tell her to meet us at the theater Tuesday at 7:00 am. The flight leaves at 9." Emily narrowed her eyes. She was sure Hatsumiyo was grinning on the other side, her plan working just as she had hoped.

"Well... I told her." Emily turned to her husband, speaking quietly. She couldn't bring herself to say anything more, especially confirming what was racing through her mind. She didn't want Sayuri to go through what Hatsumiyo had tricked her into. Emily just knew that the actual trip would be exponentionally worse for Sayuri than what Emily was expecting.

----------

Sayuri glanced at the closed door parallel to her straw bed. She knew Emily and Riah didn't like this whole thing, but they also didn't know what was going through her mind. Memories that Sayuri had pushed behind the day she left Gion were slowly starting to crawl back. She closed her eyes, mentally preparing for the moment she would step into the world of her past. Sayuri shook her head and let out a gentle sigh. _Who am I kidding? Nothing can prepare me for what's ahead._

It was all she could do to hold back tears.

----------

*Less than 24 hours now...* Pumpkin's lips curled into a cruel smile. Her eyes smiled as she turned from her gold plated clock on the wall. _She'll finally get what she deserves._

She glanced over at a worn shamisen in the corner to her right, but didn't walk over to it. "My shamisen..."

Her eyes suddenly became glazed over and her smile disappeared. "Who brought it out? I kept it put away... for a reason..." Her voice trailed off. She remember she put it in the back of her closet over 20 years ago. For some reason, she never could forget it. She had tried so many times, but it never worked.

Pumpking closed her eyes, telling herself not to cry. She didn't allow herself to cry. "Chiyo..."

_No! Why am I thinking about Chiyo? Chiyo is gone! Chiyo-chan is dead. She's Sayuri now._

Almost unwillingly, she moved over to the instrument and lightly tapped one of the strings. All it took was the soft note that came from that one string to send Pumpkin's mind back in time.

"May I be permitted to introduce Chiyo to you, Teacher, and ask your indulgence in instructing her, because she's a girl of very little talet." Pumpkin bowed to Mezumi-sensei.

The older woman studied Chiyo for a moment before she spoke. "You're a clever girl. I can see it just from looking at you. Perhaps you can help your older sister with her lessons. Put your name on the board as early every morning as you can. Keep quiet in the classroom. I tolerate no talking at all. And your eyes must stay to the front. If you do these things, I'll teach you as best I can."

The woman's face didn't change as she spoke, her cruel eyes glowering over Chiyo. (1)

_But that was a long time ago, though. _Pumpkin clenched her fists thinking about it. _Heh...The teacher thought I was her older sister._

"How things have changed..." She whispered to herself and backed away from the shamisen. "...but... still... some things haven't..." She slowly slipped a frayed photograph from her inside pocket.

Pumpkin gazed at it nostalgically, but only for a moment. She quickly snapped back and frowned at herself. "Why am I acting like this?" The photo slipped loosely from her fingertips and slid under the chair by her dressing table. The small face of Sakamoto Chiyo smiled up at Pumpkin.

She bent down and picked it up, gazing at Chiyo and herself over 50 years ago. Behind them, Hatsumomo, Mameha and Auntie were smiling at the camera. Granny had passed two years prior.

"Hatsumomo, what did you do to me... to us?" She remembered the days when she and Chiyo were the only friends each other had... before they became Hatsumiyo and Sayuri. _What changed? _She lowered her eyes. _Hatsumomo? I just don't know anymore..._

----------

"Should I really go?" Sayuri whispered to herself. "Are Emily and Mr. Burberry right?"

She closed her eyes and thought of how all this started. The moment she saw the headline in the newspaper was when the memories started coming back. Then again, people would have talked about it and she would've knew about it then. _But still..._

An image of the younger Pumpkin came into her mind. Things were so different back then. Sayuri closed her eyes, almost not wanting to remember.

The panicked Pumpkin rushed Chiyo to the door, saying that they were going to be late to school. Chiyo hurried out of her room, careful not to run into the wall on the way out since her white and blue kimono was just thrown on. Chiyo stopped when she heard Granny call her, not sure what to do. Either way, she'd be in trouble, with Granny or the instructor. Pumpking had told her to ignore Granny's call, but the older woman was standing outside her door, looking intently at Chiyo.

Chiyo reluctantly went to Granny's call, finding out she had to run the woman's neck. Pumpkin pushed the thought aside and hurried to the okiya door, telling Chiyo to put her hands in a dish of salt afterwards.

"My mother used to say 'Evil spreads in the world through touch.' I know that because she touched a demon that passed her on the road and that's how she died. If you don't purify your hands, you'll turn into a shriveled woman like Granny is." (2)

She only went further into detail by saying that she was born in Sapporo. Her mother died when she was five. Her father sent her to Kyoto to live with an uncle, only for him to lose the business he had a year later. She had to stay in Kyoto because her father died of a curse at the same time and she had nowhere to go. (3)

Sayuri sighed. Pumpkin once said that she couldn't run away from the life she was forced into. Her uncle told her that she was a nice girl, but stupid. *It's sad that the man didn't think that she would make it on her own. Maybe that's why she turned out like she did.*

She stepped out the door and looked up at the morning sky. _It's a new day... and my last in the States for a while. I wonder what will happen over there..._

"Watch out!" A girl's voice snapped the older woman out of her thoughts.

Sayuri looked up, pleasantly surprised to see the girl from before.

"Wendy, watch where you throw your ball! You'll hit somone - Oh, it's you." Wendy's mother smiled at Sayuri. She quickly picked up the white rubber ball in front of Sayuri's feet. "I'm sorry ma'am. I'm glad it didn't hit you."

Sayuri smiled down at the young girl, who was apologizing repeatedly. _Her mother taught her good morals. _"No need to apologize, Wendy." She turned to the mother. "She's ok, ma'am. She is just being a kid after all."

"Forgive me for not introducing ourselves at our first meeting. My name is Catherine Rose, and my daughter is Wendy. She just turned 9." She took her daughter's left hand and pulled her closer to her side.

"My name is Nitta Sayuri. You can call me Sayuri."

"Your family name comes first? You must not have been born here. That would explain the lovely kimonos you wear." Catherine looked up and down at Sayuri's plain, yet delicate crimson red kimono.

"You're right, Mrs. Catherine. I was born in Yoroido, Japan."Sayuri smiled grimly at Catherine, surprised at how speaking the words of her hometown stirred her spirit. "In fact, I'm going back to Japan tomorrow, for a short visit anyway."

"Can I go too, Mom! I wan-"

"Wendy!" Catherine quieted her daughter politely but firmly. "Forgive me, Sayuri. She has this hobby of studying other countries. Japan has become her latest target."

"Quite alright." Sayuri nodded and gazed down at the girl almost solemnly. _If only my childhood was as innocent as hers. She gets to have her own dreams. I wish I could help her out -- . _Sayuri stopped suddenly, remembering that Pumpkin had sent two extra tickets. "In case you want anyone else to tag along." Pumpkin had said. She had gived Sayuri five tickets total - one for herself, one for Emily, and one for Riah. She glanced back up at Catherine.

"Mrs. Catherine, I know this may seem sudden, but..." Sayuri trailed off. She didn't know how to say it. "I have two extra tickets, Mrs. Catherine."

"Sayuri? Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Catherine asked in shock. Wendy stayed quiet, intently listening to the women's words.

Sayuri nodded. "I know we just met, and I know you must have a husband, a job, and Wendy's school... I just want to make a child's dream come true."

Catherine stood there in awe, mulling over Sayuri's offer. She glanced over at Wendy, who was silently begging, with her eyes. "I... I don't know, Sayuri. It's so sudden. It's not that I'm too busy. I'm not married, currently unemployed and Wendy is home schooled."

"I apologize - "

"We'll go." Catherine said decisively. "We need a vacation anyway. I'll pay you for whatever we need to pay."

"No money. It'll all be taken care off. All you have to do is meet at the theatre at 7:00 tomorrow morning."

Sayuri smiled. _Maybe it will help. _The thought calmed her. Having two new friends along might help. Even if it didn't, she could help make a 9-year-old smile and be truly happy. _One of those smiles I never got to have..._

* * *

1 - Memory from page 57  
2 - Memory from pages 51-52  
3 - Memory from pages 52-52


	9. Crossing Times

**_Edited: 5/11/11_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Memoirs of a Geisha.

Just so you guys know, this isn't my best chapter. I just don't personally like it. I guess it's the way I wrote it, I dont know. I couldn't really write much about the plane, since I've only rode a plane once in my life, and that wasn't in first class. But then again, I've never been to NYC and I managed the earlier chapters. Oh, well. I might rewrite this chapter later if enough of you dont like it. Also, the time of the flight is an estimate as well. Please bear with me if every detail isn't perfect. Please keep reviewing and tell me how you like/don't like my chapters. I do listen to every review!

Oh, and I know I said I'd update within a month, but maybe i should make that 2 months. They're working me harder at work lately so I am writing when I find the time. Regardless, I've done my best. I haven't forgotten about this story.

* * *

**Memoirs of a Geisha 2: Sayuri's Next Journey **  
**Chapter 8: "Crossing Times"**

Emily and Riah laid their suitcases on Sayuri's cream colored couch. They didn't pack much, just about a weeks worth of clothes and a few necisities that they knew they would need before they reached Japan. Sayuri had told them they would be able to buy anything else when they landed, since Pumpkin never clarified exactly how long they'd stay.

Emily looked at her watch, the minute hand gliding to the number 6, and shook her head gently. "Thirty minutes until we meet Hatsumiyo. We can't back down now." She glanced up at her husband, who was sitting on the couch beside their baggage, waiting patiently, and frowned, "Riah, how can you possibly just sit there and be worried? This is-"

"I know, Emily." Riah interruped her, his tone float and dry. "I dont know if this trip will be for the better or worse. The only thing I know is that it is Ms. Nitta's decision. I think you should calm down and try to enjoy this trip. It's not everyday we get to go to Japan for free like this. Besides, we'll have Catherine and Wendy with us, so please try to act like an adult."

Riah's bluntness made Emily quiet for a moment. She paused, mulling over the calm man's words. "Oh, Riah..." She could only whisper, not being able to stop herself from wondering if he was right.

Pumpkin waved as the taxi cab dropped Sayuri, Emily and Riah off at the theater, signaling their location. She frowned. "Where's the other two at, Sayuri?"

"They haven't arrived yet." Sayuri said as calmly as she could, trying not to let her nervousness show. She was excited, yet scared. She didn't know what awaited her return to Japan. She would surely learn truths that she was better off not knowing and see old friend that she hasn't seen or heard from in over 30 years. Some of them may have died, she realized. She silently frowned at herself, trying not to think about it.

"Sorry we're late!" a cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts. Catherine approached the group. Beside her, Wendy could hardly contain her excitement. The smile on her face couldn't be taken away easily. "We're both excited, Sayuri. It'll be an adventure."

_You don't know the half of it. _Pumpkin smiled knowingly. _I'll perform as usual, while Sayuri's mind breaks down._

"Hatsumiyo-sama!" Sachike's frenzied voice approached the group. She had a shamisen case looped over her right shoulder, which she slowly held out toward Pumpkin. "It's your shamisen, Hatsumiyo-sama. We were making sure we had everything out of your room. We were curious though, at to what the script written on the side was about. _'Thank you for everything, Pumpkin. Best friends forever. -Chiyo.'"_

Sachike's words stirred Pumpkin's mind to when Chiyo wrote that on the bottom side of the instrument. "Sachike..." Pumpkin's voice became quiet and soft. She blinked her eyes, and hastily grabbed the case. "I meant to leave it, Sachike. But..." The corners of her lips turned up, but not completely. "Thank you, Sachike."

Nadori watched her with curiosity. _Looks like the old Hatsumiyo is trying to reemerge. That half smile meant something. The fact that she kept the shamisen means she doesn't really want the past to go away. No matter how much she says she does, part of her doesn't._

Sayuri felt a secret satisfaction from that fact alone. She smiled to herself. It was over 50 years old, atleast. _Does the old Pumpkin want to come out?Did seeing me make the memories come back, just as they did for me? If only you would come back to me, Pumpkin. Atleast then, something would be right again. Everyone else is gone - Mother, Auntie, Ken, Satsu, even Mameha. Not to mention my late Mother and Father, my birth parents._ She felt an inward sadness at thinking of the names she had once known. She gazed at the shamisen case again, and immediately thought of when she wrote those words. It wasn't long after Hatsumomo became Pumpkin's older sister.

Pumpkin approached Sayuri with saddened eyes. "Chiyo-chan..."She said quietly as she brought her shamisen to her lap. "Chiyo-chan, I'm sorry for everything."

_Chiyo? _The younger Sayuri looked at Pumpkin with curiousity. "Didn't they tell you - "

"I know, it's nearly been a year, Sayuri. You're not Chiyo anymore. But we're getting further apart. Hatsumomo is pulling us further apart day by day. I called you Chiyo at first when I came out here because I wanted it to be like old times, like before we became geisha." She looked at Sayuri again, this time with the beginning of a tear in her left eye. "I want to have one last time together as friends. I want to play my shamisen for you, but first, I want you to sign it on the bottom."

"But I don't have anything for you to sign, Pumpkin. I'm sorry - "

"It's ok. You can keep me in your heart, can't you?"

Sayuri nodded. "Yes, I can. I'll never forget you, Pumpkin." She smiled as Pumpkin's music calmed her. It would be the last time they ever talked of anything good about their former friendship/

Pumpkin pulled the shamisen case beside her as she opened the door to her personal taxi. Sayuri smiled sadly. _Are we going to ever go back to that, or is that door closed forever?_

Sayuri was surprised when all 8 of them were showed to their seats in the first class section. _Pumpkin must always ride in first class. _She mused as she watched Pumpkin practically order people around, including the pilot. They all called her Hatsumiyo-sama and treaded carefully around her. After about half an hour, Pumpkin finally settled down as the plane took off. When the flight attendants signaled that all was clear, Sayuri slowly stood up, and looked around her. She tensed her fingers, the fact of where she was leaving and heading to sunk in.

_I'm going back to Japan... to Kyoto. _Sayuri silently gazed at the red leather seats and more room for each of the passenger's belongings. She remembered the last plane she rode on was the one taking her from Japan. She wasn't first class then, of course. Sayuri walked down the aisle, breifly glancing at the businessmen and the other men and women in professional attire. When she came across a woman about her age, holding a magazine with the cover story of a woman and her lost siste, she immediately thought of Satsu. The thought made her stop. She shook her head, trying force herself not to start crying again.

"Ma'am, are you ok?" A middle aged woman with blonde hair touched her left shoulder. An infant was asleep in her left arm. Sayuri glanced down at the baby girl, and smiled. "Are you ok? You look like you need to talk about something." The woman spoke again, invitingly. She looked at Sayuri for a moment, but had to divert her attention to her child. The girl shifted her head and let out a big sigh.

"I'm ok." Sayuri spoke softly and looked back up at the woman. "You need to tend to your daughter." She turned back around, unaware that she had wandered out of first class in her thoughts. She slowly walked back to her cabin, thinking about the child in the woman's arms. _I'll never have children to carry my name and stories on. Maybe Satsu has children, if she's still alive. I wonder if she would have told them about me._ She sat down in her seat, and suddenly felt drowzy. She noticed that the others were asleep already. _Maybe I should get some on this flight so I won't be as jet lagged... Maybe. _Sayuri tried not to think about Satsu as her eyes drifted close.

Sayuri was gazing out the window of the airplane when the pilot's voice over the intercome announced their arrival. After nearly 20 hours on the plane, they were going to land in Tokyo in half an hour.

"It'll be alright, Ms. Nitta." Riah's voice told her on her right across the aisle. On her left, Emily smiled, silently telling her the same thing. Pumpkin was walking around, despite the orders to stay seated. In front of her, Nadori and Sachike were telling Pumpkin to sit down. Catherine was holding an excited Wendy's hands behind her. Sayuri smiled at the scene, wondering if this was the last of her New York life and a step back into her old life. She closed her eyes, with these thoughts swirling through her head.

The 8 of them stepped out of the airport and said nothing. Pumpkin looked around, used to her current surroundings. Emily, Riah, Catherine and Wendy were in awe. Sayuri gazed at Narita, took and a deep breath, and closed her eyes. _Japan... It feels like I'm at a new home already._


End file.
